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Examination on the Digital Evidence and Hearsay RULE in Republic of KOREA

Vol.1 (No.1) 2016
Author
admin
Date
2016-06-30 12:28
Views
1355

Abstract


Korea is ranked a top country in the aspect of digital technologies, device production and distribution. How-ever, the decisive digital evidence achieved by observing proper legal procedure based on the warrant issued by the Ministry of Justice loses its admissibility in the process of the trial upon the refusal from the accused.
Here, most defendants do not admit the admissibility as the party with the opposition to the government during the criminal trial on the digital evidence which plays a decisive role in forming the confident belief of the judge while having direct and indirect relations to proving criminal charges, requiring serious discussions.
The object sincerity of the data shall be proven for the digital evidence to be proven with the admissibility in the criminal trial. The proof on the sincerity is about the legal procedure law like the proof on the voluntariness and enough by the free proof from the judge.
There are issues judged by free proof with various methods from the judge including whether the HDD is confiscated by the defendant, whether to verify hashes in all the HDDs despite taking a long period of time, whether to sample mobile memories or some HDDs with low capacity and follow the testimony of the investiga-tors or witnesses, whether to verify with the write protection device for the original copy and whether to write the image for the verification with a copy in the legal procedure.
In addition, the data identity among media shall be accepted and in the verification process, the mechanical accuracy of the computer, program reliability, professional skills and accuracy of the operator for input, process and output shall be secured.
In short, the electronic document with the statement of the defendant may be taken as evidence if the sincerity of the document is proven and the statement is especially provided under the reliability even though the defend-ant denies the sincerity regarding the hearsay rule of the digital evidence.
This means the circumstantial security of the reliability on the evidence and the prosecutor shall specifically claim and prove the existence but the free proof is enough for the fact in the legal procedure.
In addition, the admissibility may be provided by a relevant clause if the electronic document saved to the computer, Internet and SNS posts and e-mail are included in the exemption of the hearsay rule in the Criminal Procedure Act as the hearsay evidence.

Keyword:Hearsay Rule, Digital Information, Digital Evidence, Admissibility, Hearsay Evidence
  • The Korean Peninsula is one and only divided country around the world, which has been divided since the cold war system caused by ideological conflict. In this context, there have been ideological conflicts in our Korean society. The North Korean spy cases or the unconstitutional dismissal of political party have been related to the na-tional security issue up to now. Whenever such incidents break out, many issues heat up our society, including the existence and safety of our country, the meaning of democracy and the existence of people who are pro North Korea. However, such cases may not be seen from the prospect of ideological conflict, but from that of national law on how constitutional law and order will be established. Assurance of national security is a precondition to protect people‘s safety, life, freedom and rights. The Con-stitutional law Article 1-2 states that a nation´s sovereignty shall lie in people and all the rights of the nation shall come from people, which means the subject of a modern democracy and constitutional country. However, it is important that people herein means the whole people, and the interest of the entire nation takes precedence over that of an individual person. In this regard, the Constitutional law Article 37-2 states that all freedom and rights of the people may be limited by law in order to guarantee national security. Unlike in the past, all the rights of an accused person or a criminal defendant are now guaranteed according to the Constitutional law and laws even for national security related cases, including the principle of legal process, the presumption of innocence and the principle of legality. Therefore, national security related cases such as a spy case, does not depend only on such a suspect's own confession or evidence like in the past custom of investi-gation. Under the current legal system, it will be difficult to give criminal punishment, unless they have clear evidence on a spy or terrorist. The bottom line is that today's national security needs to be beyond the conventional concept, and be consid-ered within a new paradigm where the concept of comprehensive security is focused across an individual and society. In order to ensure national security, it needs to be achieved based on each legal basis. The concept and scope of national security plans need to focus on the concept of comprehensive security, based on National Se-curity Law, National Intelligence Service Act, spy and important counterespionage investigation, and important leftist investigation.
    Keyword:Law Enforcement Agency, National Security, Comprehensive Security, Criminal Investigation, New Security Situation